Thursday, September 17, 2015

The Jefferson Option

A
recent YouGov
survey of 1000 people posed the question: “Is there any
situation in which you could imagine yourself supporting the U.S.
military taking over the powers of [the] federal government?” Nearly
one-third of the respondents – thirty percent – answered in the
affirmative, with 43 percent of Republicans (as opposed to twenty
percent of Democrats) endorsing undisguised military rule.

“What if the American
people were
to elect a president who want[s] to destroy the nation and works to
create division among the people, encourage a culture of ridicule for
basic morality and the principles that made and sustained the country,
undermine the financial stability of the nation, and weaken and destroy
the military?”

Bradford writes.

“What remedies, if any, did
the
Framers commend to us in the event a tyrant should every assume the
presidency? Do the people have the right to resist a tyrant, and does
that really hold any prospect of success without the support of the
military? Does the U.S. military have the right or even the duty to
intervene in the domestic politics of the United States as
constitutional and political savior when the times require it, and who
makes that determination?… Is such a duty incumbent upon the U.S. Armed
Forces at present?” [FULL]

A
former West Point instructor who has called for American critics of the
“war on terror” to be imprisoned or executed as traitors suggests that
the U.S. military would be hailed as the “constitutional and political
savior” of the country if it overthrew the civilian government – and a
surprisingly large number of Americans may agree with him.

Legal scholar William C. Bradford, who was forced to resign from his
position as an instructor of law at West Point in August, has privately
circulated a draft of an unpublished law review article entitled “Alea
Iacta Est: The U.S. Coup of 2017.” An abstract of that essay posted to
Bradford’s LinkedIn page adumbrates a scenario in which a U.S.
president – presumably, Barack Obama – becomes an undisguised “tyrant”
who must be replaced by a military junta.

Don't think for
a minute thatthis
scenario isn't part of Obama's governing calculus.

Thomas Sowell: “When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can’t help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup.”

I Must take issue, Roger. "News from the Front" certainly works when presented with a picture of The Gipper. But a picture of Teh One should be accompanied by the phrase "News from the REAR". Read into that what you will.